Just for You, My Little Dumplings: A Judgment Free Edition

by jen on March 21, 2007

Dude, I always knew I was one of those people who had difficulty rubbing my stomach and patting my head at the same time. I can’t even watch TV while I’m doing dishes, even when it’s a DVR’d episode of What About Brian, which takes approximately 1.38 brain cells to absorb. Still, one cantankerously grimy pan and I’m rewinding to find out what’s going on with Deena’s cute! trendy! new cupcake shop or Nicole’s (gasp) judgmental mommy & me group. I swear to sushi, it is the YUPPIEST SHOW EVER.

Anyway, I discovered this evening in flamenco class that apparently one of my legs can’t be doing something different than the other or I spontaneously combust in a flailing mass of extremities and poor rhythm. Sheesh. I am going to have to check out my moves next time I’m doing some, you know, normal dancing, to see if this is always the case. What if I’ve been disco-ing one leg at a time my whole life and I had no idea? The mind reels.

Nonetheless, I am totally loving flamenco now! There is something super freeing about being the one who sucks the most! The uber-suckiest! Then you just learn what you can, when you can, and if you’re the ass who still can’t figure out how to move your arms in the opposite direction of your feet (which, as the instructor kindly pointed out, IS WHAT YOU DO WHEN YOU’RE WALKING), who cares?! There is no judgment visited upon the truly awful. The instructor is just glad you’re still forking out $12 every Wednesday night to look like a complete nincompoop! Yay for capitalism!

Speaking of non-judgment, can I tell you that I have had Just About Enough of people saying, “Oh, you’re becoming a LI-YAR (snicker, snicker),” when I tell them I’m in law school? I do not begrudge my apartment maintenance man his cologne (Aspen? Old Spice?) choices, but it is OK for him to knock my vocational path?

In the spirit of judgement freeity and lovinglyness, though, I am going to let that go because, woohoo! Grumpy apartment man has fixed my sink, which means I can cook and make lots of dirty dishes, which means I can try my hand at DUMPLINGS a second time, yay!

Yummy dumplings! I agree that all comments about law school and becoming a lawyer have lost their zest with me. Dude I’ve been slaving for three years to do this (and racking up debt like it’s nobody’s business) – just nod your head and tell me how great it is.

What is more offensive about the maintenance man’s attempt at humor, though: the fact that he is mocking lawyers, or his idea of what’s funny? Is it okay to make (rehash) cliched jokes as if they are entertaining and interesting, thereby forcing others to fake a chuckle or risk appearing rude? Or is this line of questioning pompous and presumptuous? (I consider these questions daily and I bet you have a clever answer, Jen. No pressure.)